


Calculated

by amethystcarnelian



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Geordi's thoughts on how Data approaches the world, M/M, and how his android version of emotions are part of that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22701544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethystcarnelian/pseuds/amethystcarnelian
Summary: Data's behaviour is almost always deliberate, and that makes every kind and sweet thing he does even more lovely in Geordi's opinion
Relationships: Data/Geordi La Forge
Comments: 3
Kudos: 89





	Calculated

Some people would consider Data's calculated nature to be cold and inhuman. Those people couldn’t be more wrong. Everything Data did had to be consciously thought through, from walking down the corridor to smiling when someone complimented him. Data's smiles weren't forced in the way other people's were, Data forces a smile to convey when he's pleased, not to pretend that he likes someone or something. It wasn't that Data didn't want to smile, it was just that he couldn't make an expression instinctively. A forced and awkward smile had never looked more genuine than on his pale face.

Data didn't often laugh, and when he did, he didn't often do it particularly well. But on one occasion, with the help of Q, Data had laughed, full of feeling and with no conscious effort. He had an infectious laugh when he got it right, it was a wonderful sound. Data had glowed (quite literally, from Geordi's perspective) when Geordi had told him as much.

Data didn't ever cry, Geordi didn't know if he could, but he did feel things like anxiety, grief, and loneliness, even if he would be unlikely to label them as such. Geordi had spoken to Data before about being alone in the universe, that's what had brought them together in the first place. The day they met they had recognised the uniqueness, and the loneliness, both of them held, and it was the beginning. 

"My brain and your eyes, they see the world exactly as it is," Data had once said to him. From that day on, they weren't quite so lonely anymore. 

A few years ago, shortly after he had recovered from nearly being transformed into an alien being, he had spoken with Doctor Crusher. She had told him how Data had worried for him, calling it being "strongly motivated" to find a solution when searching to discover what danger was encroaching upon Geordi. That was... interesting. He'd never seen Data worried before, sure he would be concerned about the ship blowing up or something, but that was out of duty, he needed to protect the ship and it's crew, it was his job. But the way Beverly had described it, it had been more than duty to a fellow crew member. Concern for a friend? He knew he and Data were friends, of course they were, but for Data to feel anxiety about his safety, that had been something new. 

Then there was the time Data had gone against the Captain's orders to keep Geordi safe, even when what Geordi was doing was inadvisable and likely to get them in a lot of trouble. Data had understood the risks, and had stayed with him anyway. Geordi knew Data was capable of disobeying orders, he obviously had free will and could make his own choices, but he'd never expected Data to disobey an order he knew to be correct for Geordi's sake. That took a lot more than logic, in fact, it was the opposite.

Data calculated everything he did, and somewhere along the line, his care for another person, beyond the usual 'all life is precious' care, had come to be part of those calculations. No one could tell Geordi that Data didn't care about him. You don't risk your perfect record to help someone do a stupid thing, no matter how important it is to them, if you don't care for that person. At least, that was Geordi's experience. 

Data was a wonderful person, and a calculated one. No other person had ever been so kind, or brave, or brilliant, and certainly not all at the same time. Data wasn't perfect, he was a person, after all. A person with hopes and dreams and failures and flaws. The best kind of person.

Geordi loved that person.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a little daforge fic dump I'm doing for Valentine's day, so please go read some of the others if you enjoyed this one! Thank you for reading!


End file.
